Kalagan Food Trip

Kalagan cooks and the food trippers pose for a picture in the school grounds of the Sirawan Beach Elementary School.

           

            “Know your city, know your indigenous food.” With this as its slogan, the Philippine Women’s College of Davao (PWC), through its Research and Community Extension Office (RCE), launched its first food trip to Sirawan, Toril, Davao City on April 28 to savor the exotic food of the Kalagan Tribe of Davao.

            The Kalagan food trip is the first activity of the Food and Cultural Exchange Program initiated by the RCE in order to promote community tourism in Davao City. The idea is to make Dabawenyos aware of indigenous communities in the City and interact with them. And what better way is there of knowing them than through their food and culture?

            Ten adventurous souls composed of faculty and staff of PWC and their friends heeded the call to know our indigenous community and their food. The 45-minute trip ended at the Sirawan Beach Elementary School, some seventeen kilometers from downtown Davao. Hadja Coring-Al-Had’z, Norkis Quirod, Jahara Landas, Vanessa Edres, and Barangay Kagawad Ebrahim Coring, representing Brgy. Capt. Madjid Lumpapac of Sirawan, welcomed the food trippers.

Sinigapuna or Kalagan yellow rice. It is usually served during special occasions and celebrations. 

            After a short introductory program prepared by Norkis Quirod, the party eagerly swooped on the table laden with dishes that were totally new to the visitors. There was chicken adobo cooked with tinu (a condiment prepared from coconut gratings and dried fish), wakag (gabi) cooked in coconut milk, and sinigapuna or Kalagan yellow rice. Topping the meal were some sweets -- panyalam (fried rice cake), jampok (baked banana balls), and the popular delicacy amik (fried rice noodles).

            The RCE plans more food and culture trips in the future involving other indigenous Davao communities. It is hoped the idea will be picked up by other groups, particularly the government. The project will not only promote community tourism through food and culture, it will also foster intercultural understanding that will ultimately lead to peace and development in the region. 

Wakag (gabi) stewed in thick coconut milk. 

Amik or fried rice noodles. It is a famous delicacy that only master cooks can make.

(From left to right): Dr. Mac Tiu, Kagawad Ebrahim Coring, Norkis Quirod, Amay Lumangyao, Betty de Vera, Jo-Anne Lim, Vanessa Edres, Hadja Coring-Al-Had’z, Almah Bautista, and Michael Marquez pose after a hearty meal of exotic Kalagan dishes at Sirawan, Toril, Davao City. 

(Published on Sunstar Davao, May 17, 2012)